The Barbados Contingent for the 38th
World Chess Olympiad departed from Grantley Adams Airport today on
British Airways for Dresden, Germany.

Based on teams registered, Dresden
will not only be a reform Olympiad, due to the many new regulations
introduced, but also a record-breaking Olympiad, beating Turin 2006
with 154 teams in the Men's Section and 116 teams in the Women's
section.

Barbados will be fielding a full
contingent of both Men's and Women's Teams for only the third time
since its debut on the world stage in 1986 at Dubai and has drawn
considerably on its up-and-coming junior players, which comprise 50%
of the team membership.

Also accompanying the Barbados
Contingent is International Arbiter Rohan Waithe who is one of only
ten Arbiters drawn from the Americas Continent to officiate as a
Match Arbiter at Dresden.

Other participating countries from
the English Speaking Caribbean include Trinidad & Tobago which will
also be fielding Men's and Women's Teams and, Jamaica, the US Virgin
Islands and the British Virgin Islands which are sending only a
Men's Team.

Russia with an average FIDE Rating
of 2756 and an all Grandmaster cast of Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander
Morozevich, Peter Svidler, Alexander Grischuk and Dmitry Javokenko
are the seeded number one and would certainly be highly favoured
dethrone Defending Men's Champions Armeina who are seeded 9th with
an average rating of 2677.

In the Women's section, Russia also
tops the Seedings with an average rating of 2491, featuring a team
lead by newly crowned Women's World Champion Grandmaster Alexandra
Kosteniuk and four International Masters, Tatiana Kosintseva,
Nadezhda Kosintseva, Ekatrina Korbut and Elena Tairova.

The Defending Women's Champion
Ukraine are seeded 2nd with an average rating of 2486 and will
surely be looking to retain their title in the face of the strong
Russian challenge.